


They Ain't Worth Missing

by DarkWitchOfErie



Series: Iron Family [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Avengers Tower, Domestic Avengers, Everyone came together during Infinity War and they’re all friends again, F/M, Genderfluid Peter Parker, I love domestic Avengers and Avengers Tower, Inspired by a Toby Keith song, M/M, Michelle Jones Is a Good Bro, Multi, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Pepper Potts Acting as Harley Keener's Parental Figure, Pepper Potts Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Peter is a poor little anxious baby, Rhodey acting as Peter and Harley's parental figure, Semi Infinity War and Civil War Compliant, Slow Burn (kinda), Supportive May Parker (Spider-Man), This ended up being WAY longer and more domestic than originally intended, Tony Stark Acting as Harley Keener's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Trans Peter Parker, Transphobia, harley is a flirt, he and she pronouns for Peter, homophobia in the second chapter, more like medium burn I guess, probably also ADHD but was never diagnosed so he never mentions it, they're my favorite things ever, will add more tags as needed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-23
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-25 04:01:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21531379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkWitchOfErie/pseuds/DarkWitchOfErie
Summary: Harley moves to New York and becomes friends with Peter, MJ, and Ned. He dates a lot. Peter pines, a lot. But after every break-up, Peter's there to help Harley through it, assuring him that they ain't worth missing.
Relationships: Harley Keener/Peter Parker, Pepper Potts/James "Rhodey" Rhodes/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Natasha Romanov
Series: Iron Family [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1556011
Comments: 19
Kudos: 233





	1. In which Peter is a nervous wreck

Peter hurried into Avenger’s Tower, waving as he passed Janet and Will at the security desk. Normally, he’d have stopped to chat with them a moment while they weren’t busy but today, he had more important things on his mind. Mr. Stark had called to tell him that he had important news for him and to get up to the lab as fast as possible. He hadn’t even considered webbing his way over. He’d been headed toward the Tower and was only a block away anyway. Though the elevators were fast, he still had time in to wonder what could be so important. Maybe something was wrong with the suit? Maybe Mr. Stark was going to tell him to cut back on patrols because he was starting his senior year in a month. Maybe Mr. Stark was going to move out to that lakeside cabin permanently and he’d hardly ever see him anymore. Was it just his imagination or had Mr. Stark sounded super serious on the phone?

By the time he reached floor 103, where the private lab he and Mr. Stark and sometimes Dr. Banner used, he had worked himself up into just plain nervous instead of nervous-excited. He pulled on the hem of his sweater, twisting the knitted fabric around his fingers.

“Nice sweater kid.” He saw Tony glance quickly at the pin on his sweater. After making sure it was alright with him, Tony had made him a set of pins that were the genderqueer flag and featured either an ‘H’ or ‘S’ depending on which pronouns and name he was using then. All he had to do to change the letter, was swipe his finger over the flag and it would change to the opposite pronoun of the one that had been on it. Peter wasn’t really comfortable with the singular ‘they’, so he switched pronouns.

“Thanks. MJ decided to teach herself to knit this past winter.”

“That girl is a terrifyingly quick study,” Tony commented. She may not be quite the genius Peter was, but she usually excelled at anything she put her mind to. “So, Pete, I have something to talk to you….”

Nerves fraying, Peter interrupted. “Look, I know it’s my senior year and it’s super important, especially if I want to go to MIT. Which I do! I totally do! But I can handle being Spider-Man and going to school still! I know I can do it, Mr. Stark.”

“Pete! Calm down, kid. That’s not at all what I wanted to talk to you about. I know you can handle school and Spider-Man at the same time. It’s good news, I promise.”

“Oh. Okay. I’ll just sit down then,” shoulders slumping, he sat on the couch that was usually used for power-napping in the lab.

“Do you remember when the Mandarin attacks happened? And I disappeared for a little while?”

“Yes. You told me you’d gotten lost in Tennessee.” They hadn’t known each other back then, but it was all over the news.

“Yeah. Well, there’s this kid that I met out there. He helped me a lot while I was there. He’s a real smart kid, like you are. He doesn’t have your passion or skill with chemistry and he’s not quite as good yet with physics, but he’s a genius with engineering. He’ll probably be better than me one day. I’ve kept in pretty good contact with him since then. Visited him in Tennessee a couple times a year. Anyway, his name’s Harley Keener and he’s moving up here. I’m going to enroll him in Midtown. He’ll probably be joining us in the lab as well. I know he wants to help with the Iron Man suit, but it’s up to you if you let him help with the Spider-Man suit. He doesn’t know you’re Spider-Man, I figure that’s up to you to tell him. But I did tell him you’re my intern and that you work on the suits.”

“Boss?” Happy strode into the room. “Harley’s flight lands in an hour. If you hope to make it in a car to JFK, we gotta go now.”

“Right. Pete, you want to hang out here until we get back so you can meet Harley?”

“Sure,” he did his best to smile, but knew it didn’t quite work when Tony gave him a worried look before following Happy.

“Friday?” Tony called once in the elevator. “Call Rhodey and Pepper.”

“Pepper would like to remind you, she’s in a meeting right now, Tony. What’s going on?” Rhodey’s voice filled the elevator.

“Somethings wrong with Underoos. I’m on my way to pick up Harley at JFK.”

“Where is he?”

“The lab. Love you.”

“Love you too. Drive safe, Happy.”

=====

Peter slumped further on the couch. Was he being replaced by this Harley kid? No one was gonna replace him as Spider-Man, but was this kid gonna replace him with Mr. Stark? Was it because he called him Mr. Stark all the time and never used his first name? Did he just like Harley better? Harley was probably way cooler than him. He probably didn’t stutter or spaz out at all.

“Hey kid.” Peter jumped, landing about 15 feet up on the wall behind the couch, back pressed against the wall. “It’s just me,” Rhodey walked closer, hands out in front of him. “You wanna come down from there?” Peter crawled down the wall and curled back up on the couch. “Sorry, didn’t mean to surprise you.”

“’S okay. I wasn’t paying attention.” It wasn’t until he heard his own voice that Peter realized he’d started crying. Harley probably didn’t cry over stupid stuff.

Rhodey handed him a couple of tissues but otherwise didn’t comment on the fact he was crying as he sat down. “Want to talk about what’s got you so distracted you didn’t hear me come in?” Peter shrugged one shoulder. “Want me to call Nat and you can spar with her until you feel better?”

He thought about that for a moment and nodded. “FRIDAY? Where’s тетушка?”

“Natasha is in the common room on floor 108.”

“Thanks, FRIDAY.” Peter hurried out of the lab, Rhodey behind him. Even if he didn’t get to spar with Nat, he’d feel better with the distraction.

Nat grinned at him when he stepped off the elevator. “How are you today, mаленький паучок?” She opened her arms and Peter stepped easily into her embrace, relaxing into her arms. The only Russian Peter understood were those three words, ‘auntie’ and ‘little spider’. He kept meaning to ask Nat to teach him more but always got side-tracked with something else. The others didn’t really understand the relationship that had developed between the two spiders, and to be honest neither did they. But they were both too happy with it to question it.

“Not good. I dunno how to feel right now.” He felt Natasha nod from where his face was pressed against her shoulder.

She hummed lightly, something that sounded vaguely like a lullaby though he’d never heard the words to it. “Movie or spar?”

“Spar, I think. I need to move.”

“We could play in the gymnastics gym if you’d rather.” Peter pulled away and grinned. “Gymnastics it is then,” she grinned.

They went to the gym together and, after changing into more gym appropriate clothes, met back out on the floor. Peter dusted chalk on his hands for the opposite reason an actual gymnast would – it gave him a barrier that helped keep him from sticking too much. Even though the uneven bars were usually a women’s only competition, he didn’t care. He loved spinning over the bars and jumping from one to the other. He knew, because of his increased flexibility and strength, that he could do things that normal human gymnasts couldn’t, and he took full advantage of that when he was here.

He jumped up unto the higher bar, swinging his body into motion. As he spun around the bar, he saw Nat flipping on the balance beam and smiled. This was exactly what he needed, some quiet, active, and quality time with Natasha. After a while, they came together in the middle of the gym. They’d spent an entire weekend once watching pairs acrobatics and had spent the next two weeks coming up with their own routine that accounted for Peter’s increased abilities and Natasha’s martial arts and acrobatics training. They’d practiced it together frequently enough that Natasha was now comfortable with Peter tossing her much higher than a normal person could. She knew he would catch her.

This time, Peter was aware enough that he heard someone come in. Clint walked in while Nat was balanced in an upside-down split on one of Peter’s hands and he spun them in a few circles. “Hi Clint.”

“How’s it going?”

“Better now, thanks.” Peter pushed up, he and Nat releasing their hands at the highest point and she spun and flipped to land in front of him.

“Well, I hate to break up your routine, but Stark called ahead. He and Harley are about 25 - 30 minutes away.”

“Thanks.” Peter fought to maintain the calm and joy he’d gained over the past hour and a half.

Of course, Nat saw and understood exactly what was wrong. “Come on, let’s get changed so they don’t come in here looking for you.” He was sitting on a bench in the changing room, staring down at the shoes he hadn’t put back on yet when Nat walked into his changing room 15 minutes later. Usually, they used their actual rooms as changing rooms when it came to using the regular gym even though it did have two very nice changing rooms. But there weren’t that many people who even remembered that they had a gymnastics room so he and Nat thought of those changing rooms as ‘theirs’. “Mаленький паучок?”

“It’s not fair to not like this kid before he even gets here, is it тетушка?”

“Fair? No. But no one said you have to pretend to be his best friend right away,” she sat on the bench beside him. “Here’s what I know from years of being around Tony. When he cares about someone, he goes out of his way to find things that will make them happy, even if it’s seemingly little things. And if he doesn’t like someone, he won’t pretend otherwise,” here she took his chin between her fingers and turned him to face her so he could see how serious she was. “Nor would he try to force someone out of his life by finding a replacement.”

She knew she’d hit the nail on the head when Peter crumpled and started crying against her shoulder. She let him cry, running her fingers through his curls and rocking gently. After a few minutes, he pulled back and went to the sink to wash his face. “You’re right. Let’s meet the new kid upstairs.” Together, they went back up to floor 108.

Clint, Rhodey, Steve, and Bucky were in the common room flipping through Netflix, trying to agree on something to watch. Peter curled up beside Rhodey, feet tucked up under himself, and smiled up at him. Nat sat criss-cross applesauce beside him, her knee pressed against his leg.

“Enjoy your time in the gym?”

“Yes, I’m feeling much better now.”

“Good,” Rhodey gave him a tight, one-armed hug. According to Nat, the frequent displays of affection hadn’t always been normal for Rhodey. It started after Tony and Pepper brought him into their relationship.

Speaking of Pepper, she strolled into the room then, already dressed in her normal, comfortable clothes as opposed to the power suits she wore as CEO of Stark Industries. She walked up behind the couch Peter was on and ran her fingers through his hair, scratching his head gently. She leaned over, kissed Rhodey, and sat on the arm of the couch beside him.

“Barton!” Bucky shouted from the other side of the room, interrupting whatever debate had been happening between Clint and Steve. “We are not watching World War 2 or Depression documentaries so you can ask Steve and me how accurate they are.”

“Besides, our experiences weren’t universal. Especially our experience with the War.” Reluctantly, Clint agreed. Eventually, they agreed on starting the 5th season of The Great British Baking Show. Despite the fact that they were all either terrible bakers or merely satisfactory, they enjoyed critiquing everything the bakers did.

Fully aware of his surroundings still, Peter heard the elevator coming up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sitting at work and Toby Keith's "He Ain't Worth Missing" came on and this popped into my head almost fully formed. However, in writing it, it has completely gotten away from me. It was only supposed to be three chapters. Now it's at least 4 with various connected oneshots semi-planned for the future.


	2. Getting to Know You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few shots of Parkner getting to know each other, of Harley meeting MJ and Ned, and of why exactly Harley's moving to NYC. Warning: This is where the homophobia and transphobia come in. If this is going to upset you, it's a very skippable part of the story, right at the beginning. Just skip down to either where you see Tony yell "Pepper!" or down to the page break which looks like this: ====

Harley watched his bags disappear on the conveyor belt with more than a little trepidation. Everything he owned was in those three bags, including his prized Mark 2 Potato Gun. There had been other potato guns, but that one was special. He’d never flown before and this was not exactly the best situation to be experiencing his first flight. Tony had offered to send a jet down to pick him up, but he needed some processing time and thought that the airport would give him that.

So, Tony had paid for the flight and the uber from Rose Hill to Knoxville. Now, Harley had two hours before his plane was scheduled to board and nothing to pull apart. Pulling things apart and putting them back together again had always helped to calm him but he’d been advised to leave his current project in his checked luggage so as not to alarm anyone when he began fiddling with a mechanical device. He’d wanted time to sit and think, time to process everything, but with that time now stretched out in front of him, he was starting to regret that decision.

He got to his gate and sat in a chair by the windows. For about 30 seconds. It started with just tapping his fingers on the armrests. Then on his knees. Then bouncing one leg while he tapped on the armrests again. None of it was movement Harley was necessarily conscious of doing – he could feel his body moving of course, but he hadn’t actively made the choice to move. His mom had always whisper-yelled at him in church for bouncing and, as she put it, twitching.

Thinking about his mom brought on a wave of melancholy that temporarily stilled his movements. He knew it hadn’t been easy for her ever since his dad had left them. He knew she struggled to support their small family. He also knew that the church she had gone to since she was a little girl, didn’t “approve” of gay people. He knew his town, in general, carried that attitude. But he’d also thought he knew that his mother loved him. Apparently, her love for him wasn’t as strong as her belief that his lifestyle “choice” was immoral.

He’d finally decided it was time to tell his mother he wasn’t straight. So, after dinner last night, he’d sat her down in the living room and very calmly explained that he was attracted to people regardless of their gender. He told her that he identified as pansexual and explained what that meant. She’d been very quiet through the whole explanation. When he was done, she’d nodded once and announced she was going to bed.

Whether she actually got any sleep, Harley didn’t know. He knew that he slept fitfully the whole night, finally getting out of bed around 6 am. His mother had been standing in the kitchen when he got out there, already ready for work, and staring out at the barn that housed his workshop. The tile floor creaked as he stepped in, but she didn’t look away from the barn.

“This is who you’ve decided to be, then? Attracted to other boys?”

“Mama, there’re more gen….”

“There absolutely are not!” She spun to face him then. “That is a lie. God created Adam and Eve. Two genders, Harley, man and woman. It’s bad enough you insist on believin’ the lies about gender. But now you’re tellin’ me you decided to be attracted to your own gender?”

“I didn’t decide anything. That’s just the way God made me, Mama.”

“God doesn’t make freaks, Harley,” she turned her back on him again. “I want you out of my house. I won’t allow your lies and your corruption to corrupt your sister too. I sent her away an hour ago so she wouldn’t have to see you. I want you out by the time I get home from work.”

“Mama, I….”

“No. You don’t get to call me that no more.” Without looking back at him, she left through the back door. He heard her car start up moments later and peel out of the driveway.

Shaking with too many emotions to name, he’d turned back to his room where his phone was on its charger. Since the incident when he was a kid, Tony Stark had stayed in touch and had told him to call anytime he needed anything. Tony answered on the third ring.

“Harls?” His voice was still gravelly from sleep.

“I woke you.” His voice sounded weak to his own ears and he wasn’t sure Tony would even hear him through the phone.

“At a little after 6. What’s wrong?”

It took him three tries, and a few starts and stops in that third try, for him to get the whole story out.

“Pepper!”

“I’m up, Tony. What’s wrong?”

“Call to get the jet ready. Call Barton if you need to. We have to go get Harley.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Well, I’m certainly not leaving you _there_.”

“I don’t wanna make a fuss.” There was quiet on the other end of the phone for so long that Harley began to think Tony was going to pilot the jet down himself.

“Alright, no jet. The next flight out of Knoxville to New York leaves in six hours. Harley, I know this is hard. I can’t imagine how hard it actually is for you. But I need you to focus with me, okay? In the next three hours, I need you to pack up everything you want to bring up here. Leave the stuff in the lab except projects you’re actively working on. I’ll have someone come down and pack all that up for you later. Right now, you just need the important stuff.” Tony stayed on the phone with him for the next three hours, talking him through the process of packing and keeping him calm.

And that was how Harley found himself in Knoxville, sitting in the airport, and staring out the window. Unable to sit still any longer, he got up and paced the length of the small airport. He kept an eye on the departure times and, as his flight got closer, he stayed closer to the gate.

=====

“I hate airplanes, Old Man,” Harley announced as soon as he met Tony at baggage claim. The distance from Rose Hill surprisingly helped him feel more like himself. Or maybe it was the proximity to Tony. “Don’t let me talk you out of the jet next time.”

“Assuming there is a next time you’re going to need an emergency flight. What’s wrong with airplanes?”

“Cramped and I couldn’t move around much. Apparently, pacing the length of an airplane is one of those things that makes people nervous.”

Tony put his hands on Harley’s arms and, when the teen didn’t back away, he pulled him in for a hug. “Kid, I’m sorry you ended up coming out here like this. But I’m glad you’re here.” Harley hugged back, unbelievably grateful for the quirk of fate that led to Tony finding and hiding out in his barn.

On the way to the Tower, Tony explained the living situation. Apparently, all the Avengers had rooms at the Tower, though they also had homes in other places. There were usually a few of them staying in the Tower at any given time though. He was more than a little shocked to find out he already had his own rooms at the Tower. Tony had included them in case he wanted to come up for summers or if he decided to go to college in New York.

Once out of the elevator, Happy took Harley’s luggage and started down the hall. “Careful, Happy. That top one has my potato gun in it,” Harley called out with a grin.

“Potato gun?” Tony turned to him.

“You said pack the important stuff. Potato guns are vital. You never know who’s gonna show up in your garage,” he shrugged one shoulder, still grinning with a shadow of his usual mischievous twinkle in his eye.

“I feel like we’re missing a great story,” someone spoke from the couches to their right. Harley looked over and recognized Captain America as the speaker.

“Harls, this is Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanov, and Peter Parker. And Pepper and Rhodey, obviously. Guys, this is Harley Keener. He’s living with us now.” Harley nodded at everyone as they were introduced. When he got to Peter, his gaze lingered. Tony had failed to mention just how attractive his intern was. Dark brown eyes, curly brown hair, and a shy smile. His grin widened and he winked at Peter.

“Welcome to the madness, Harley,” Clint grinned. “Tell us about this potato gun then.”

====

“Well hey, darlin’. Didn’t realize you’d be joinin’ us this morning,” Harley grinned and winked as Penny joined them in the lab two days after he’d arrived.

“Hey, Penny. How’s your morning been?” Tony leaned around Harley where they were bent over the helmet of the Iron Man suit. Harley turned with confusion to the older man then looked back at Penny.

“Penny? I thought your name was Peter?”

“It is. Sometimes. Today is a female day, so it’s Penny. Just check the pin Mr. Stark made for me,” she tapped the pin on the outside of her sweater. This sweater was store-bought instead of another of MJ’s creations. Harley nodded and Tony left the worktable to adjust the lab’s thermostat. “Thanks, Mr. Stark.”

“Anytime, kid. What’re you working on today?”

“Just need to make more web fluid for the web-shooters. Still haven’t figured out the problem with the Iron Spider legs yet and I’m not sure I’m up to that disappointment again today.”

“If you change your mind, you can borrow Harley. When I’m done with him.”

When the heat adjusted to the higher temperature Tony had set it to, Penny took off the sweater she’d worn to compensate for the air-conditioning, tossing it onto the couch. Harley, it seemed, was feeling the heat too. He took off his tee-shirt and tossed it on the couch, leaving him in just a black tank top.

“Why’s it so hot in here, Old Man?”

“Sorry, my fault. I can’t thermoregulate very well.”

Harley turned to look at Penny and flashed that million-watt smile again. “Well then, that’s alright darlin’.”

Penny blushed and turned her full attention back to the web fluid she was making. A few of the others stopped in periodically. Sometimes with questions for Tony, a few to check in with Harley and make sure he was adjusting well. Everyone who noticed Penny in the lab made sure to say hi to her and ask about her morning as well. Every time they addressed her as ‘Penny’ or by female pronouns, she could feel Harley staring. That was going to get very uncomfortable, very quickly.

“Parker! Just the person I needed to see,” Bucky strolled into the lab, Natasha beside him. “You’re тетушка broke my arm.”

“I did nothing of the sort, mаленький паучок. He’s over-reacting.” The grin and the mischief in her eyes told Penny she was lying.

“Pen, it doesn’t move right anymore. She hit me with one of those Widow Bites of hers, and now my arm doesn’t work right.”

“Then she really didn’t break your arm, Bucky. I did.” She grinned up at him. “I developed the new Bites for her.”

With a dramatic gasp and his flesh hand over his heart, Bucky staggered back a step. “The betrayal! I thought you liked me, kid?” Penny laughed, dropping down into her chair.

“You’re ridiculous,” Natasha shoved him with a smile.

“Hop up on the table, I’ll fix it.” Penny started to lift plates in the upper part of Bucky’s arm. “This is what you get for not letting me put a spider on your arm, ya know.”

“Listen here, not everyone needs spiders in their life, kid.”

“Untrue,” Natasha spoke from the couch. “Everyone needs at least one, preferably two,” she winked at Penny who laughed.

“Need help,” Penny muttered so only Bucky would hear her. She wouldn’t ask for Harley’s help without clearing it with the man who owned the arm first. He nodded. “Hey Harley? Can you come here and give me a hand with this?” She called. She had most of the outer shell of Bucky’s arm removed and wasn’t quite sure what the problem was.

“Yeah, sure,” he left the worktable he was at and joined Penny, standing on the opposite side of the table so they were each on either side of Bucky’s arm. Penny stood back a little to give him room to work. Apparently, he found the problem pretty quickly, as he started to get right to work. Penny watched his muscles flex as he worked and had to keep her hands busy so she wouldn’t try to move the hair that had fallen forward over his forehead.

**To Auntie:**

_I think I may be in trouble._

**To Little Spider:**

_Oh?_

**To Auntie:**

_He’s so pretty._

Penny heard Nat laugh behind her before she got a return text.

**To Little Spider:**

_This is a problem how?_

**To Auntie:**

_He stares every time someone refers to me being female today. I think he has a problem with it._

**To Little Spider:**

_Or, he comes from a very small southern town and we’re all very relaxed about your gender._

_You should ask him about it so you don’t assume the wrong thing._

Penny sighed and nodded, tucking her phone back into her back pocket. It stuck up about two inches out of the pocket, but she hated carrying a purse. She always lost them. “I hate not having pockets,” she complained.

“Who doesn’t?” Nat commiserated.

Harley finished fixing Bucky’s arm and the two assassins left the lab. Having seen the work he could do to fix Bucky’s arm, and how quickly it was done, Penny decided she could use his help on the Iron Spider’s legs.

“What’s wrong with it?”

“It’s the top right leg. When they’re called out, it either doesn’t respond as quickly or is at a wrong angle compared to the others.”

They worked companionably for a while. Harley did quickly find the problem, but it took more work to fix than Bucky’s arm did. When they broke for dinner, at Pepper’s insistence, they sat together in the dining room. There weren’t many people having dinner together that night, but still enough that Harley twitched or stared whenever someone referred to Penny as female.

Once back in the lab, Penny took Nat’s advice and asked about it. “So, um… I have a question.”

“Sure, darlin’, ask away.”

“Why… why do you stare or flinch when people call me Penny or ‘she’?”

“Noticed that, did you? I’m sorry, it’s not really anything to do with you, exactly.” He flopped down onto the couch and looked up at Penny. “Rose Hill Tennessee is a very small ‘God-fearing’ town. Anything that falls outside of heteronormative standards is not accepted there. It’s why my mother kicked me out when I told her I’m pansexual,” he ran his fingers through his hair but didn’t pause long enough for Penny to say anything. “Anyway, anyone else in my town who’s even slightly outside the ‘norm’ doesn’t say anything about it and pretends they are normal. So, it’s kinda delightful how free you are with expressing your gender and how for everyone else it’s just a normal part of everyday life. But it’s a little terrifying for me with what just happened with my mom. I’m sorry if it made you uncomfortable.”

“It’s okay, Harley, now that I know why you’re doing it. I just didn’t know why and that’s what made me uncomfortable.” Penny sat down beside him. “And I’m really sorry about your mom. That sucks so much.”

Penny could practically _see_ Harley push his feelings about his mom down and mourned a little that he didn’t feel comfortable expressing his emotions in front of her. But then, they hadn’t known each other for very long yet.

====

About a week after Harley moved to New York, Peter invited him to come hang out with him, Ned, and MJ. They were just having a movie day at Peter and May’s apartment, but Harley hadn’t had much chance to meet other people his own age. They gathered together in the apartment, MJ supplying the snacks and Ned supplying the drinks like they always did.

They pushed the couch and chair back against the walls, pulled all the cushions and pillows off of them and piled them on the floor. Then they pulled out the bean bag Tony had bought them and unfolded it into a king-size mattress. That went over the cushions and pillows. Finally, there were the bean bag pillows they used to prop themselves up. Snacks were spread out, drinks were set carefully on the coffee table that had been pushed up against the tv stand, and the four teens made themselves comfortable.

“So, Keener, what brings you to New York?” MJ asked while Ned and Peter tried to decide what movie to watch.

“I’m queer and my mom and whole hometown sucks,” he shrugged. Peter had noticed that he tried to play off what had happened with his mom as if it weren’t a big deal. It was, of course, but he figured if Harley didn’t want to talk about then he wasn’t going to press the issue.

“That’s too bad. Been sight-seeing yet?” MJ changed the subject.

“Not yet,” he shrugged. “I’ve been busy in the lab with Tony. The last time I actually helped him work on one of the suits was when I was 10 and I mostly just babysat the suit anyway. I’ve been getting familiar with Tony’s lab so that I can actually be more useful when he wants me to help out.”

“We’ll take you sight-seeing next week then. There’s only a few weeks until school starts anyway.”

Peter and Ned ended up putting on Coraline and let it play as background noise while they turned and joined the conversation. “It’s too early to worry about school yet, MJ,” Ned complained.

Brushing him off, she stayed focused on Harley. “So, aside from a backwards attitude about sexuality, what was your hometown like? What did you do for fun?”

“Why do I feel like I’m being interrogated?”

“Because you are.”

“Because it’s MJ.”

“Because that’s the only way she knows to ask questions,” MJ, Ned, and Peter spoke at the same time.

Harley chuckled a little, but leaned back on his hands and answered MJ’s questions as she asked them.

====

Penny, Ned, and MJ picked Harley up at Avengers Tower for their day of sight-seeing. They planned to hit all the most important tourist spots that day which MJ had condensed to mean the Statue of Liberty, the Met, and Central Park. They were getting an early start to the day, knowing that they would be stuck in crowds of tourists going to the Statue and electing to get it over with as quickly as possible. The three of them had, of course, already seen the Statue though it was always an impressive sight. However, seeing it with someone first experiencing it helped them to remember just how impressive it was.

Since it was a Tuesday, the Met wasn’t as busy as it usually was on weekends, but there were still a lot of people exploring the halls and the artwork. In each room, they each picked their favorite piece and showed it off to their friends.

In the armory, Penny and Harley stood debating whether they could get Tony to make an Iron Man suit that looked more like the decorative medieval suits of armor as opposed to the sleek suits he always made. MJ and Ned joined them, and they were debating the idea of getting him to attach a red plume to the top of his helmet when Penny’s phone rang. She looked at the display and smiled.

“Hi, тетушка. Yeah. Of course. Be there in less than three minutes,” her expression quickly slid from one of joy to one of serious determination. “I have to go. I’ll call as soon as I can.” She turned and ran out of the museum.

Harley turned to look at MJ and Ned. “What was that all about?”

“You’ll have to ask her why she dashed off with that determined look as soon as Natasha Romanov called,” MJ stared into his eyes for a solid 10 seconds, then turned away from him. “Hey, how long do you think it took to train a horse to hold still while you put armor on it?”

Harley followed her gaze to the armor-plated, taxidermy horse. Before he could answer her question or try to get a better answer to his own question, his phone buzzed with a text.

**To Potato:**

_Stay away from the Tower until I text you again. Under attack. Not too serious but stay away._

“What is going on?”

“We’re contemplating the image of peasants getting kicked by horses when they try to put armor on them. What do you mean?”

“Not that, Ned. First Penny runs off and now I’ve got a text from Tony that it’s not safe to go back to the Tower yet.”

MJ moved to stand in front of him and put one hand on either shoulder. “Ask Penny when she gets back. We have no answer to give you.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him through the rest of the armory, Ned following behind them.

They didn’t stay in the museum much longer. Harley was too agitated by what was going on to focus on any of the artwork and was unable to stand still long enough to see any of it anyway. They went to Central Park instead, where there was plenty of room for Harley to pace and less chance he would accidentally run into someone. They passed Cleopatra’s Needle and settled at one of the picnic tables near Turtle Pond.

MJ and Ned sat talking to each other, but Harley paced, not really paying attention to what they were saying. Nearly an hour after the first text, he got another from Tony.

**To Potato:**

_All clear. Come home whenever you’re ready._

“Hey, guys. Why’d you leave the museum?” Penny jogged up from the general direction of the Met and sat beside MJ.

“Harley needed room to pace, so we left. Everything good?” Ned asked.

“Yeah, nothing too serious. Not with so many of us nearby. Oh, Harley! Good news,” she waved him closer. “The Iron Spider leg problem is completely fixed. It worked exactly like it was supposed to when I called it out today.”

“When you…?”

Penny’s eyes got wide. “I didn’t tell you? I thought I told you. I remember planning to tell you last week. Did I not tell you?”

“That you’re Spider-Man?” He hissed. “No, Parker, you didn’t tell me.”

“Shit! I’m sorry Harley. I really thought I told you!”

“Don’t worry, this is pretty much how I found out too. I was sitting in his room when he came home, through a window, on the ceiling, in the suit.”

“I guessed,” MJ shrugged.

====

Over the next three weeks, Peter came to the Tower pretty much every day. He and Harley worked closely in the lab at least three times a week. The rest of the time, they’d try to just hang out and do normal teenager things. They watched movies, played video games, left the Tower to people watch or explore the city.

After getting over his concern that Tony was trying to replace him, he was able to relax and enjoy Harley’s company. He hadn’t expected to have such a fast, deep connection with another person like this. His friendship with MJ had taken a while to develop, but once it did it was one of those life-long friendships. Peter and Ned had become best friends almost instantly when they’d been younger and Pete had really thought that kind of instant friendship would only happen to him once. True, it didn’t happen all at once with Harley, but as soon as Peter tried to become friends with him it was like they’d known each other their whole lives. They had that kind of quick, strong connection that Peter had had with Ned.

And the only problem was Harley’s flirting. Which wasn’t the real problem, of course. Just that it wasn’t serious and Peter was dying with that knowledge. Harley called him ‘darlin’’ constantly, made-up reasons to touch him or just casually touched him without reasons. Like sitting in the common area and watching a movie, Harley casually laid his arm behind Peter’s head and played with his curls throughout the whole movie. The million-watt smiled he’d give whenever Pete walked into the room. The winks! Going out of his way to make Peter laugh, particularly if he was having a bad day.

And then there were the quiet times. The first one was on a trip to Tony, Pepper, and Rhodey’s lake house. They’d decided to have a quiet week away from the city and asked Penny if she wanted to come with them. Of course, they were taking Harley because he was their kid now and why wouldn’t he go with them. But they invited Penny too, saying it would be good for her to get out of the city too. They were right, of course. It allowed her senses some time to relax. There weren’t constant shouts for help or the threat of attack. She wasn’t overwhelmed by the amount of stimuli that she’d gotten used to in the city. The lake house brought its own set of stimuli, but it wasn’t as loud and wasn’t as much, so she was able to relax easier. At least, until it started to storm.

Tony had told them to expect a storm that afternoon but that was no reason for concern, it wasn’t going to be too bad. After she’d first been bitten, storms had caused panic attacks. She’d gotten used to the regular noises of the city and the feel of the air, but the sudden change in air pressure that happened with storms, as well as the loud thunder and constant pounding rain had given her a few problems. But she’d been through countless storms since then and wasn’t worried. She didn’t take into account that at the lake house, they weren’t in a high-rise like the Tower and they weren’t in an apartment building like his home with May. There weren’t as many buffers to the amount of noise that came with a storm.

It came on suddenly. One minute it was just a gloomy, overcast day, and the next there was a loud crack of thunder and a deluge of rain. Penny scrambled off the couch where she and Harley had been watching reruns of Ridiculousness and pressed herself as flat as possible against the living room wall, breath coming in short and fast gasps. It was so much louder out here. The rain hitting the windows, the roof, and the lake was much louder than just hitting the windows at home. And the thunder! Maybe all those buildings in New York really did dampen the sound of thunder like some people thought because it sounded so much louder out here.

“Penny?” Cautiously, Harley got up and moved toward her. He made sure his movements were slow and steady, so she knew exactly what to expect. “What’s wrong?”

“Storm. Too much.”

“Okay,” he stood in front of her, leaving only a few inches of space. “Okay with me this close?” She nodded. “Good. I’m going to touch you, okay?” When she nodded again, he reached up and pressed his hands flat against her ears. “Does this help at all?” Though she could still hear him and still hear the storm, it did dampen the sound a little. She nodded with a tight smile. “Good. It’s a temporary fix ‘cause I can’t do this through the whole storm. But we’ll figure something out. Focus on my breathing, okay Darlin’? In and out, nice and steady.”

“What’s wrong?” Neither had heard Pepper join them.

“The storm is too much for her,” Harley explained, not breaking eye contact with Penny and continuing to exaggerate his breathing to help her calm hers down.

Pepper nodded. There was no real basement to the lake house, which would have been her first choice of where to send them. “Take her up to your room. It’s sheltered by the trees, being on the backside of the house, so the rain doesn’t hit the windows as much. Or, go sit in the hallway where there are no windows.”

Harley nodded. “How do you want to do this? I can let go and we can run upstairs, I can let go while you turn around and you can lead us upstairs while I hold on over your ears again, or I can not let go and one of us can walk backwards up the stairs.”

“Don’t let go. I’ll walk backwards.” Harley nodded and they made their way to the stairs. He watched Penny’s feet and told her when it was time to step up onto the stairs and when they’d reached the top. He locked eyes with her again when they reached the top, checking to make sure she was still doing as okay as possible.

“Okay, my door’s right behind you. The handle’s right behind your left forearm.” Penny opened the door and Harley knew it was a bad idea to go into his room. “Nope, close it. We’ll stay in the hallway, it’s quieter out here. Will you be okay if I let go for a minute?”

When she nodded, he dashed into his room, grabbing his giant bean bag chair, blanket, and pillows. He hurried back out again, dropping everything against the innermost wall of the hallway. Another crack of thunder had Penny jumping against him. “Sorry,” she muttered.

“Don’t be, it’s okay.” Harley dropped into the bean bag, quickly piled pillows so they were in easy reach, grabbed the blanket, and scooted back on the bean bag so he was against the wall. “Come here,” he opened his arms and Penny gratefully dropped onto the bean bag with him. He put one of his thicker pillows behind his back, maneuvered her so she was lying between his legs, and threw the blanket over Penny and himself. “Do you want a pillow on my chest?”

“No, heartbeat’s nice.”

“Good to know. What about against the other side of your head? Or just piled around you to create a little buffer?”

“Piled around, I think.” Harley did as asked then relaxed back against his own pillow and into the bean bag.

“What else will help right now, Penny? Talking to me? Listening to me talk? Netflix? Me shutting up?”

“Ask me questions to distract me.”

“Okay. Well, I already know how Ned and MJ found out about you being Spider-Man, so how did your Aunt find out?”

“Same way as Ned, kinda. Mr. Stark had just given me back my suit and I put it on. I’d left my door open, which was really dumb. I didn’t see her come in and she saw me take the mask off. She swore at me! Aunt May hardly ever swears at me.”

Harley chuckled. Penny grinned a little at the feeling of his laugh against her face. “Why’d the old man take the suit? Something broken?” He stroked her hair, keeping his hand close to her ear just in case.

Penny sighed. “No, I messed up,” she told him the story about the ferry and the weapons and all the events surrounding his disastrous Homecoming. “But I figured it out in the end, and I guess he decided that I was able to do this whole superhero thing right. So, he gave me back the suit and invited me to come to the Tower and the lab any time I want. We agreed that school has to take priority but I’m pretty good at balancing,” she chuckled a little.

“So, how much of Spidey’s abilities are you and how much is the suit?”

“Hm, well the sticky thing, the heightened sense, and the strength are all me. The web-shooters are something I made up and Tony improved. The flexibility and healing are also me.”

“So you could still be Spidey without the suit?”

“Technically, yeah. It would just be harder. The suit has filters to help focus background stuff. Like over my ears and the goggles. So yes, I could.”

“Okay. Who was your first crush? That you actually know.”

“Hm. I remember having a crush on one of my teachers in like 4th grade,” Harley laughed again. “I was sure we were gonna get married, but I think that had more to do with her recognizing that the reason I wasn’t paying attention during math and science was because it wasn’t challenging enough. She started giving me harder work to do. My nine-year-old brain decided that meant she was showing me special attention and that, because she thought I was really smart, we’d get married when I grew up.”

“That’s adorable.”

“But as far as crushes on people my own age? The first one I remember was a guy I was friends with, Charlie. In 7th grade, I told him I liked him, and he told me I was going to hell for it. He stopped speaking to me that day. Thankfully for me, it was the end of the school year and I didn’t have to deal with him much in 8th grade. Then I transferred to Midtown for high school and haven’t seen him since. What about you, Harley? Who was your first crush?”

“At the risk of sounding very weird, Pepper. I met her about a year after meeting Tony and she was, and still is, pretty much everything I want to be when I grow up.”

“Pepper is pretty amazing,” Penny agreed.

They talked late into the night, getting to know random details about each other’s lives, while the storm raged outside. Penny was able to focus so completely on the sounds of Harley’s voice and heartbeat, on the feeling of his hand in her hair, and whatever they were talking about that the sounds of the storm faded in the background and allowed her to completely relax.

Each of the adults passed by them on their way to their own room but didn’t comment or try to interrupt them. Rhodey, the first one to wake up, found them together on the bean bag the next morning. Penny curled up on top of Harley, with his arms wrapped around her and one hand still in her hair.

When Harley woke up, Penny was already downstairs. Which was good for him, he didn’t have to deal with any of his non-platonic feelings just yet. Skipping breakfast, he went out the back door and to the barn that Tony had set up as a mini lab.

“’Morning. How’d you sleep?”

“Good. How’s Penny today?”

“Dunno, haven’t seen her. Why?”

“The storm shook her up pretty bad last night,” he shrugged it off as just being concerned about his best friend. “Which gave me an idea. She told me that her suit has built-in features to help filter out noise. Do you have the schematics for that part of the suit here?”

“Sure do. Why?” Tony pulled them up and pushed the hologram over to Harley.

“I’m wondering if they’re adaptable to earplugs,” he muttered, already engrossed in the plans ahead of him.

Harley focused on the project he’d decided for himself with an intensity that reminded Tony of himself. Throughout the day, Tony brought him food and drink, which he ate without paying any attention to it.

At dinner, Harley set a small case in front of Peter. “What’s this?” he asked.

“Something to help with the next storm, in case you’re alone. Or ya know, help with any other noises.”

“Earplugs?”

“They’re built off the same schematics as the filtering system for your suit. Tony helped me hook them to Karen so she can adjust how much they filter for you.”

“Thank you,” Peter threw himself into a hug with Harley so hard that he nearly toppled both of their chairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: This story continues to get away from me. That airport bit wasn’t supposed to be that long. It originally wasn’t even going to be in the story. Harley’s mom kicking him out was just gonna be a quick, “yeah his mom’s a bigot and he’s better off but also sad ‘cause it’s his mom” conversation with Peter, MJ, and Ned. But I like it too much to cut it out. Also, this chapter is the first time I can remember just sitting down and typing for 6 straight hours and actually liking what I wrote. So I'm pretty damn happy about that.


	3. Harley's Dating Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, the bit this story was supposed to focus on - Harley's relationships and Peter/Penny's reaction to them.  
> The events of 'Chicken Soup for the Soul' take place right at the beginning of the relationship with Nick, in case you wanted to know.

The school year started off pretty normally. Flash was still a dick, but Peter found it easier to ignore him. Harley was in a few of the same classes as he was, which was nice. They’d grown so accustomed to each other’s presence over the month Harley had been in New York that, if they both didn’t go to the Tower after school, they Facetimed to do their homework together.

The only problem Peter really had was that Harley was a flirt. He was very charming and he had a way of listening to you as if you were the only person in the room who mattered. Peter’d been on the receiving end of that attention before, often still was, and he knew just how it felt. He knew he had no right to, but he was unbelievably jealous every time he saw Harley pay that much attention to anyone else. At first, he just chalked it up to Harley’s personality, until one afternoon toward the end of September, when he walked up to the lunch table with a fellow student that Peter vaguely recognized as someone he’d been flirting with for the last week, but couldn’t name.

“Hey guys. This is my boyfriend, Will Neill.” Peter gasped, causing him to choke on the Gatorade he was drinking. “Ya alright, Pete?” He nodded and waved off the concern. Harley looked as if he didn’t quite believe him but finished the introductions.

Peter stayed quiet for the rest of lunch, watching Harley and Will interact. Harley sat in his chair so that he was turned toward Will who was pretending to be focused on making conversation with MJ and Ned but who smiled or blushed every time Harley would casually touch him. Just a brush of fingers on the back of his hand or his forearm, a hand on his shoulder; just very normal interactions.

Peter studied the boy, wondering what exactly was so attractive about him. He was pretty pale as if he didn’t get outside much and gangly looking. He had a gap-tooth smile which, in Peter’s opinion, looked better on Sam Wilson than it did on Will. He had messy, dark brown hair that wasn’t quite long enough to fall into his eyes. Peter’s phone chimed with a text that he ignored in favor of studying Will. The third chime made him look down.

**To Parker:**

_Stop staring at Will like you want to strangle him._

_Parker! Pay attention to me!_

_PARKER!_

_Don’t make me text Romanov._

**To MJ:**

_I was not! And you can’t text her anyway, you don’t have her number._

**To Parker:**

_You absolutely were. Whatever helps you sleep at night._

_You’re lucky Harley didn’t see that look so he couldn’t interrogate you about why his best friend doesn’t like his boyfriend already._

_You don’t have to be friends with him, but don’t look like you’re trying to kill him either._

Peter slid his phone back in his pocket, choosing not to respond to MJ. Instead, he took her advice and turned his attention to the conversation happening at the table while studiously avoiding looking at Harley and Will.

At the end of the school day, Peter planned to go home to his and May’s apartment, but there was Happy, waving him over. He slid in beside Harley and closed his eyes, leaning his head back.

“Everything okay, Peter?”

“Hm? Oh yeah. Just a long day and Flash was a dick, as usual, in our last class. I hate ending the day with him.”

“Ya know you could make him stop?”

“I’m not going to hit Flash. No matter how tempting it can be. He’s only human, I could do serious damage to him.” Harley chuckled but dropped the subject.

Once at the Tower, they went up to the main living floors to get started on homework. First, Peter sought out Tony.

“What’s up, Mr. Stark? Why’d you need me right after school?”

“I didn’t. She did,” he nodded to the far wall of the common area where Natasha was lounging against the wall, one leg bent so her foot was pressed against it.

“тетушка! When did you get in? I thought you were in DC?”

“I was, mаленький паучок. MJ told me you had a bad day,” Natasha raised an eyebrow and did not glance over at Harley. “I thought maybe you could use a sparring partner.”

Peter grinned, choosing for the moment to ignore that MJ did apparently have Nat’s phone number and the potential horror that could be. “I’ll meet you in the gym!” He ran to his room and changed quickly into his gym clothes then ran to the elevator and into the gym. He was there before Nat and took the time to practice some of his flips.

“Alright, mаленький паучок, let’s see how you’re doing.” Nat won their sparring match, of course. She’d been doing it much longer than he was and, because it was only sparring, Peter held his strength back. “So,” they sat together in the middle of the sparring ring. “Harley has a boyfriend.”

Peter groaned and dropped his head forward. “Yes. And I shouldn’t be upset about it, I know that. Just because I think Harley’s probably the single greatest person I’ve ever met, does not mean I have any sort of rights to him. I shouldn’t be upset that he’s dating someone. I should be happy for him that he’s in a place where he’s comfortable dating another boy. That’s what I’m gonna do.” He looked up at her with resolve. “тетушка, he’s my best friend, other than Ned. He needs friends who support him so, unless this guy turns out to be a major asshole, I’m gonna be happy for him. I can do this.”

“Good for you. If I’m not here to spar with, you know where to find Bucky and Steve.”

“Yeah, I do,” he stood up, offering his hand to help her up, even though she didn’t need it. “How’d MJ get your number anyway?” Natasha didn’t answer, only laughed as she walked away.

The relationship with Will lasted maybe a month. Penny came to the Tower to work in the lab one Saturday, knowing that Harley wouldn’t be there because he had a date with Will. She stopped on the living floor with plans to stop by her room only to see Harley on one of the couches in the common area, blanket wrapped around his shoulders, tissues beside him, and sugary snacks scattered on the table. _Inside Out_ was playing on the TV and he was sobbing.

“Harley? Sweetie, what’s wrong?”

“They needed Sadness! They thought they didn’t but then they did!” he sobbed out.

“Okay, Sweetie.” Penny came around the couch and pushed snacks out of the way so she could sit beside Harley and wrapped her arms around him. Harley rested his head on her shoulder then tried to curl up into her lap only to find that he was, in fact, too big. Penny had no idea what was actually going on with him, but she rubbed circles on his back and waited until he was ready to talk.

Finally, Harley’s sobs subsided, and he was able to take deep breaths. “I thought a Disney movie would be a good idea. I thought there was no way that one would make me cry and that it would make me feel better,” he sighed and was quiet for a minute. “Will called before our date today to dump me. He said I was only pretending to be gay for the attention. He thinks that, because I’m attracted to other genders means that I’m really straight but trying to get attention.”

“Oh Sweetie, I’m sorry. He sucks,” Penny carefully tightened her arms around her.

“He sucks a lot.”

“Want me to ask Nat to dropkick him off the top of the school?”

Harley shook his head. “That’s a little extreme.”

“I can web him to the side of an apartment building,” she offered.

He laughed but shook his head again. “No, darlin’, that’s okay. I’m pretty sure Spider-Man isn’t supposed to web random teens to the side of buildings.”

“I could pretend I thought he was trying to mug someone.”

Harley buried his face against her neck and Penny could feel him smile. “Thanks for the offer, but it’ll be okay. I know it wasn’t even a very long relationship and we’d only been out a couple of times. But he was my first boyfriend, ya know?”

Penny held her friend, rubbing his back, and offering what comfort she could.

====

Penny spun around in front of her mirror, watching the way the light caught the different colors of the layers of her new skirt. She’d gone out shopping the night before during the after-Christmas sales with Pepper and was absolutely delighted in the layered, multi-colored, multi-length circle skirt she’d found. She loved the colors, the way it moved when she moved. It was one of those articles of clothing you wore all the time for no practical reason except that it brought joy. With one last spin, she hurried out of her room at the Tower, across the hall, and knocked on Harley’s door.

“Hey Harley,” she strolled in, as had become their custom, only to stop dead at the sight that greeted her. Harley lay on his back, the blanket pushed down to the top of his hips. One arm was carelessly thrown over his head while the other was wrapped around his boyfriend Nick, who’s head was pillowed on his chest. His very naked boyfriend Nick, if the bare leg that had escaped the blanket and was tossed over Harley’s legs, was any indication.

Penny spun on her heel, closing Harley’s door behind her softly enough that they wouldn’t know she’d been there, and ran down the hall into the common area. Which was empty. Damn.

“FRIDAY, where’s тетушка?”

“Natasha is in Russia on a mission for the next week.”

Penny whimpered just a little. “Where’s Pe – Mom?”

“Pepper and Tony are headed to a business summit in France. They are over the Atlantic right now. Rhodey is at work. I could call him.”

“What’s wrong, kid?”

“Bucky! No, FRIDAY, don’t interrupt Rho – Pops.”

“Rho-pops?”

“Still getting used to the parental figures thing. Bucky, will you spar with me down in the gym? Please? Тетушка is in Russia and I really just need to spar.”

“You mean you need to hit someone who’s not afraid to hit you back.”

“Yeah.”

Bucky stared at her for a second or two and nodded once. “One condition, you tell me what’s wrong when we’re done.” Penny nodded. “Meet you down there in five.”

She ran back to her room, changed into her gym clothes, and ran back to the elevator. She got into the gym before Bucky and took the time to do a few stretching exercises. She was prepared to wait for Bucky to stretch too when he came out of the elevator, but he stepped right into the ring. “You looked impatient, I stretched in the elevator.”

Penny didn’t bother with the circling and eyeing each other up thing that a sparring match usually began with. Instead, she just attacked. She caught Bucky just unprepared enough to give herself the edge and force him onto the defensive. But he was a super soldier and a world-class assassin, so it didn’t stay that way long. However, he recognized that Penny had some frustration to get out, so he held back enough that she still had the upper hand.

When her manic energy was starting to ebb and she was getting a tiny bit slower, Bucky landed a hard punch to her diaphragm, knocking the wind out of her. She fell flat on her back and didn’t get up.

“Pen, you okay?” He stood over her, prepared in case she tried to sweep his legs out from under him.

“No,” her voice was thick with tears and he dropped to the mat beside her, lifting her onto his lap. He hadn’t held anyone while they cried except Steve and it had been a long time since Steve was small enough to fit in his lap. But it came back to him pretty easily. He stroked her hair and back, rocking them slightly from side to side and making comforting noises. She sobbed into his tank top, arms wrapped tightly around him.

Penny wasn’t sure how long they sat like that. She dimly recalled Steve coming into the gym, then leaving again, but beyond that, she had no idea how long they’d been there when her sobs finally started to subside into hiccups. “Here, sweetheart,” Bucky offered the box of tissues that were somehow beside him. When she tilted her head in confusion, he said, “Steve came looking for me. I had him bring a box down. There’s water here for you too.”

“Thanks, Bucky,” she said miserably. She blew her nose and wiped at her eyes. “I woke up in a really good mood today. I put on my pretty, new skirt which was probably impractical since I wanted to work in the lab. But I like that skirt,” she huffed. “Anyway, I went to get Harley to help out in the lab and I didn’t realize…” she sobbed again. “I didn’t know Nick had stayed last night. And they were there, in bed, and Nick at least was totally naked. I could see his hip and his whole leg ‘cause he had it over the blanket and over Harley’s legs. And I shouldn’t even be upset, ‘cause Harley’s my best friend and I want him to be happy and if Nick makes him happy then that’s good. But it hurts so much, and I don’t ever wanna see Nick ever again for the rest of my life ‘cause he’s stupid and I hate him,” Penny buried her face against Bucky’s chest again, trying to breathe slowly so she didn’t start crying again.

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I know just how much you’re hurting and I’m so sorry you’re going through this.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. You’ve heard of Agent Peggy Carter, right?”

She nodded. “There were rumors that Steve was in love with her.”

“Mm. He was. Absolutely, completely in love with her. And I was his best friend, the guy he trusted for everything. And the guy who had to stand back and let someone else have the guy he loved.”

Penny curled more tightly in Bucky’s arms, keeping her face in his chest. “This sucks, Bucky.”

“Yeah it does.”

Another 10 minutes passed, and Penny finally uncurled herself from Bucky’s lap. “I’m glad it worked out for you and Steve. And - thanks for letting me hit you.”

He chuckled as they both stood up. “Anytime, kid. You know how to find me.”

Penny went back to her room and showered off the sweat from the fight and the tears from after it. Standing in her room and staring at the skirt on the floor she decided that she wasn’t going to let the bad memory ruin her enjoyment of the skirt and slipped it back on.

She went ahead with the rest of her plans as well and made her way to the lab. She didn’t really have a project that needed her attention right then. The only things that she needed to do were some minor maintenance for the Spider-Man suit and making more web fluid. She was tinkering with some models for a spider-drone that was similar to the one that Tony had made in her original suit but that walked on the floor or through vents instead of flying.

When she heard Harley and Nick headed toward the lab, she slipped the earplugs he’d made for her into her ears and asked Karen to block everything out. She studiously focused on the 3-D model in front of her, pretending she didn’t notice the two of them walk in despite being hyper-aware of it. From the corner of her eye, she tracked their movements around the lab. Harley was showing off the projects he was either currently working on or had just completed. Well, showing off the ones that weren’t top secret anyway. She pretended not to notice when Harley stopped beside her, presumably asking what she was working on. She jumped in forced shock when he waved a hand in front of her face.

“Sorry,” she said, pulling out the earplugs. “Didn’t hear you come in. What’s up, Harls?”

“Showing Nick around the lab. What’re you working on?”

“Hey Nick,” Penny congratulates herself on how steady her voice is, though she barely looks at him. “Spider-drone. Kinda like the one Spidey has that flies, but this one can only crawl. Like through vents and stuff.”

“Very cool. Need any help?”

“Nah, it’s still in the very early preliminary stage. I’ll let you know when I do though.” Penny purposefully did not notice how close Nick was standing behind Harley, or the possessive hand on Harley’s hip. With relief, she did notice the lab’s door opening.

“Hey, Penny,” Steve and Bucky strolled in. “You up for lunch?” Steve asked. Bucky subtly shook his head.

“No thanks, Steve. I’m gonna hang in the lab for most of the day.”

“Suit yourself. How about you Harley? And… Nick, right?”

“Yes, sir,” Nick grinned and turned to Harley.

He smiled and turned to Steve and Bucky. “Yeah, we’ll come with you guys.” Tossing a slightly worried glance at Penny, he took Nick’s hand and followed Steve toward the elevators.

“My hero,” Penny smiled in thanks when Bucky turned to look at her after the others had left the lab. He rolled his eyes but laughed as he left.

Over the next three weeks, Penny’s family did their best to subtly keep Nick away from her whenever he was visiting the Tower at the same time she was there. Unfortunately, as thankful as she was, that didn’t help her at school. Some days, Harley sat with Nick and his friends, other days Nick sat with her, MJ, and Ned. Which would have been easier to bear, except Nick was much more into PDA than Will had been. So, there was handholding, cuddling, and kisses at lunch.

At lunch one afternoon, Penny and Nick were laughing at a story Ned was telling while Harley smiled fondly. MJ narrowed her eyes at the pair of them and Penny stopped laughing.

“What’s up?”

“Nothing. Just noticing how similar yours and Nick’s sense of humor is. And the fact that you two have practically the same laugh. Have you ever noticed that, Harley?”

“Hm, can’t say that I have,” he rubbed the back of his neck, refusing to make eye contact with any of them.

Nick narrowed his eyes at MJ then turned to look at Harley, who wasn’t looking at him. Penny didn’t notice the interaction because, as soon as MJ compared her to Nick, she’d pulled out her phone to distract herself. Nick stood up and stalked out of the cafeteria. Harley heaved a sigh and followed after him.

“Nick! Nick, wait up!” He jogged a little to catch up to his boyfriend. “Babe, what’s wrong?”

“Tell me I’m overreacting,” he spun to face him. “Please, for the love of everything, tell me you’re not dating me because I remind you of Parker.”

“O…of course, not! How… how could you even think that?” he rubbed the back of his neck again, unable to meet Nick’s eyes for more than a second.

“Never play poker. You’re a terrible liar, Harley,” Nick smiled sadly at him. They were both silent for a minute, just staring at each other so Harley noticed the tears gathering in Nick’s eyes.

“Nick, what’s going on?”

“I’m sorry, Harley. I really think we could’ve had something special. But I won’t be a substitute for someone else. I can’t do that to myself,” he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Harley’s cheek. “Maybe you should consider telling Parker how you feel.”

He turned and walked away. Slowly at first, but the longer Harley was quiet, the faster Nick walked. Harley stared after him, wanting to say something, wanting to call him back, but unable to form the words. He sank to the floor as Nick rounded the far corner and pressed his back against the lockers. He stared, unseeing, at the lockers on the other side of the hallway.

“Harls?” Penny slowly walked into his field of vision, but she was blurry. Which didn’t make sense, Harley didn’t need glasses. “Oh sweetie, what happened?” She reached into her backpack and pulled out a travel pack of tissues.

“You just have tissues in your bag?” He had spoken very softly but knew Penny’s hearing would pick it up anyway.

She shrugged. “Ned was sick last week; I haven’t taken them out yet.” She sat down across from him, pressing her knees against his. “Do you wanna talk about it?” He shook his head. “Okay. Do you want me to call Mom or Dad to come get you?”

He started to shake his head again but changed his mind and nodded. “Come with me?” he whispered.

“Of course, Harls,” Penny pulled out her phone and called Tony. When he didn’t answer, she called Pepper. “Hey Mom. Can you come get me and Harley? Or send Happy? I’m not sure. Something’s happened with Harley, but he doesn’t wanna talk about it yet. No, nothing dangerous,” she looked to Harley for confirmation on that and he nodded. “He just needs to come home and wants me to come with him. Okay, thanks. Yeah, I’ll make sure we’re out front.” She hung up. “Mom’ll be here as fast as she can. She’s going to call the office and get us both out. I’ll text MJ and Ned and we’ll go wait by the front doors, okay?” Harley nodded but made no move to stand on his own. Penny stood and offered both hands, taking most of his weight when she helped him up.

They went to their lockers, grabbed their heavy winter coats and any books they needed, and headed for the front doors. No one bothered them as they stood there, waiting to be picked up. The town car Happy usually drove them to school in pulled up and Pepper got out of the back seat. Before she could start up the stairs, Penny was leading Harley out, gripping his hand tightly. She pushed him into the car and rounded it, so she was sitting behind Happy, putting Harley in the middle.

Pepper smiled a little and slid back into the car so Harley was surrounded by the two of them. She made them both wear their seat belts, but kept an arm wrapped around Harley. Penny mirrored her position on his other side. For the entire car ride back to the Tower, he didn’t make a sound. He just stared down at his hands, tightly clasped in his lap. Penny caught Pepper’s gaze over his head and the two shared a worried look. Harley was rarely quiet, and when he was, he definitely wasn’t still.

They made it to the Tower fairly quickly and took the private elevator all the way up to the penthouse. Pepper led them into hers, Tony’s, and Rhodey’s bedroom. “Run to your rooms and grab comfy clothes for both of you, Penny. I’ll keep Harley here.” She maneuvered Harley so he was sitting on the edge of the bed, then hurried into the walk-in closet to change into lounge pants and one of Rhodey’s tee-shirts. She sat down beside Harley to wait for Penny. “Are you going to be able to change into your comfy clothes when Penny gets back, darling?”

“Mm,” he nodded slightly. Pepper wrapped her arms around him, wanting to help but unsure of how to. Penny burst into the room a few moments later, skidding to a stop two feet away from the bed.

“Alright, you two get changed. I’m going to grab drinks and snacks from the kitchen. I’ll be right back,” she kissed Harley’s head and went into the smaller kitchen that was part of the penthouse suite.

Penny laid Harley’s clothes beside him after making sure he would be willing to change. She walked into the closet and changed there. Listening carefully, she heard Harley methodically change his clothes before she came out of the closet. When she came back in the room, he seemed more curled into himself than he had been before. Pepper peeked out of the kitchen and waved Penny in.

“Any idea what happened?”

“Not really. It has something to do with Nick, I think. MJ made some remark about the two of us being similar, which Nick apparently didn’t appreciate ‘cause he left and Harley followed. I think they got into a fight.”

“Okay. Here, you carry this one,” she gestured to a tray covered in various sweet and salty snacks that was definitely too heavy for her to carry. She picked up the other one that just had a few bottled drinks and they walked back into the bedroom. They set the trays on one of the side tables and turned to Harley. “Okay, darling, can you move into the center of the bed for me?”

He scooted back until he was in the center of the bed. The unnatural stillness was still highly worrying for both Penny and Pepper. Much like they had in the car, they sat on either side of him, but this time were able to fully wrap their arms around him.

It took about 30 seconds of them silently holding him for Harley to crack. He crumbled into their arms, sobs shaking him so hard it would’ve been difficult for him to breathe if he hadn’t been crying too. They tightened their arms around him and just held on while he fell apart. Eventually, his breathing returned to closer to normal as his sobs subsided. Together, the three of them laid on their sides while Pepper and Penny waited for Harley to tell them what was wrong.

Finally, he looked up at Pepper. “He thinks it’s weird that he and Penny have the same sense of humor and laugh kinda the same. He said we coulda been something special but now we can’t ‘cause he broke up with me,” he curled up, pressing closer to her. Penny wrapped herself around Harley from behind, pressing her face in between his shoulder blades. The three of them stayed that way for a long time until Pepper heard both of her children’s breathing even out. She stood up and stretched, one hand on her small baby bump.

“Hey, Pep….”

“Ssh!” She waved her hands at Tony and gestured to the sleeping children. Rhodey walked in behind him and she shooed them both out of their bedroom.

“They okay?” Tony asked, casting worried looks at his closed bedroom door.

“Not yet. Nick broke up with Harley at school today. Apparently, MJ commented on how alike Nick and Penny are and he took offense to that. He thinks it’s weird. Leave them to sleep for as long as they will. If they don’t move before we go to bed, we’ll sleep in one of the extra rooms downstairs.”

Peter slipped out and went on patrol the next night. He was swinging through Queens when he happened to catch Nick on his way home from work. It probably had nothing to do with him staying close to Nick’s route to and from work and home. And if the ‘mugger’ he webbed to the side of the other boy’s apartment building hadn’t been the one he’d seen trying to rob a little old lady a block away, well that was an accident. Sometimes criminals got lucky and gave Spidey the slip. It happened. So what if he and Karen happened to ‘forget’ to call the police and let them know he’d webbed someone so they could come get him down and arrest him until after someone from the apartment building had noticed him? He was a busy spider, lots of crimes to stop.

It was worth it when Pepper smiled at him the next morning from behind her tablet where a short article had been written about Spider-Man mistakenly webbing an innocent teenager. It was more worth it when Harley leaned into his shoulder and whispered ‘thanks’ when Pepper told him what she was reading about.

Harley was more subdued than Peter had ever seen him over the next week. He ate when someone gave him food, slept when he was sent to bed, but didn’t do much of anything else. He would go to the lab if Tony or Peter asked, but he never worked on anything. When Pepper sat him down one afternoon to ask if there was anything they could do, he told her that Nick had been his first. He’d thought Nick really loved him. They all understood that he’d need a lot more time to get over this breakup than he had with Will, so they respected his space but tried to include him in as many things as he’d allow them to. As the weeks went by, he climbed out of his depression and became more and more like his usual self.

Unbeknownst to his family, that wasn’t the whole story. What Nick had said about them dating because he reminded him of Peter was true. The first time he’d heard Nick laugh, he’d thought it was Peter even knowing that they didn’t have 6th period English together. He’d turned his total attention to wooing Nick as soon as he found out he was attracted to boys. He’d avoided thinking about why he was dating Nick. He cared about him, but he knew he didn’t love him. Even the night they’d first had sex he knew he didn’t love Nick, but he’d hoped that one day he would. He hoped that by dating someone similar to his best friend, he’d move past the very non-platonic feelings he had.

So far, it hadn’t worked. Peter’s smile still made his heart beat a little faster. He still sought out the company of Peter over everyone else. Peter’s pain – whether emotional, mental, or physical – still made him wince in sympathy and do everything in his power to make it better. When something exciting happened in his life that Peter wasn’t around to see, he was still the first person he wanted to share it with. He still made up excuses to touch him whenever possible while wishing that he could just hold him without needing a reason other than ‘just because I wanted to’. He could still sit and listen to him talk about anything for hours on end, just to watch how excited he got when it was something he was passionate about.

Despite Nick’s advice to tell Peter how he felt, he knew he wouldn’t. He would never risk jeopardizing the best friendship he’d ever had on the unlikely chance that Peter would feel even remotely the same way. So, he decided to change tactics. When he felt up to dating again, he decided to date someone who didn’t remind him of Peter at all. That didn’t work either, though it could have been because he never went out with anyone for more than one date. None of them were remotely appealing. It wasn’t until Cindy Moon, another member of the Acadeca team started flirting with him, that he got into another serious relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's one more chapter after this, and then two more (at least) oneshots that are part of the same universe. The last chapter is about halfway done, so it may possibly be up this weekend.


	4. Prom and Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harley's got a date to Prom and it's not Peter. But it is time for both of them to confess.

When Harley brought Cindy over to their lunch table and told them all they were dating, MJ felt like dropping her head onto the table. She didn’t, of course. She did, however, grab her phone and text Natasha.

**To Widow**

_Harley has a new s/o. Cindy. Only way she could be more like Penny is to actually BE Penny._

**To MJ**

_How do you mean?_

**To Widow**

_She’s on the Acadeca team with us, a Star Wars nerd, super smart. They even have the same build!_

_She’s the type of person who’d get spider-like powers and use them to return lost bikes and help little old ladies cross the street._

**To MJ**

_How soon do you think she’ll notice?_

**To Widow**

_3 weeks, tops._

**To MJ**

_I’ll let parental units know._

MJ sighed and tucked her phone away. Three weeks was a generous estimate. MJ really did admire Cindy’s intelligence, so it all came down to how much time she spent with them. She caught Penny glaring at Cindy and kicked her under the table. When Penny turned the glare on her, she merely raised an eyebrow. Cindy told them all about the needlessly romantic gesture Harley made to ask her to Prom that MJ was not paying much attention to but has something to do with paper flowers all over her locker. If she was attracted to Harley, she might be glaring too honestly.

After Acadeca practice that day, Penny went straight home instead of going to the Tower. She knew the Tower was home too, and knew she’d be able to find someone there who would help her through her feelings, but right then she just wanted Aunt May. When she walked into their apartment, May was already sitting on the couch in comfy clothes with sugary snacks.

“I have ice cream in the freezer if you’d rather,” she held up a bag of Twizzlers. Penny dropped her bag and hurried to the couch, curling up against her aunt, pressing her face into her belly, and crying. May wrapped her arms around her as best as she could, running one hand through her hair and just holding her while she cried.

Penny rolled onto her back, head pillowed on May’s thighs, as she finally started to talk. “Cindy’s kinda a friend, ya know? We don’t hang out, but she’s cool and we talk in school. Now Harley’s dating her. Taking her to _Prom_. And I feel so _dumb_. Why am I still so upset that Harley’s dating someone else?” she started gesturing with her hands more the longer she kept talking. “I decided I would be happy for him, Aunt May, ‘cause he’s my best friend aside from Ned. And plus, I never even told him I have feelings for him, so it’s not like he rejected me specifically. It’s not like he’s being mean and rubbing these relationships in my face ‘cause he knows I like him. He never stops being my friend, and we only spend a little less time together. And sometimes, that’s my fault ‘cause I don’t wanna be around his partner or ‘cause of Spider-Man stuff.

“It feels like it though,” she said softly, hands coming to rest on her belly. “Every time he dates someone else it feels like he’s rejecting me. Did you know, he flirts with me Aunt May? Not like, seriously, or anything. Just little flirty jokes sometimes. And he’s a really tactile person, he has to touch someone often. I like to make sure I’m the closest to him so it’s me. And he always listens to what I have to say, even if I’ve said it before. Like, _really_ listens, not just looks at me and pretends he is. He tells me happy stories about his little sister when he wants to. And he lets me hold him when he’s crying ‘cause his mom sucks,” she sighed, rolled onto her side so she was facing away from Aunt May, and curled her legs up toward her chest.

“I get why Cindy likes him. Harley’s pretty much perfect. He’s probably the perfect boyfriend too. More than willing to make time for his partner but doesn’t forget to live his own life. Did you know he sticks his tongue out, just a little, when he’s really concentrating in the lab? It’s cute. He’s bitten his tongue a few times doing that, when he finally figures out whatever he was working on, but he still does it. He memorized how Mom takes her tea since she decided not to drink coffee while she’s pregnant and, when she’s been in meetings all day on Saturdays, he’ll make her a cup. And then just swaggers into the meeting, interrupting whoever’s talking, and sets it on the table in front of her. She tells him that they’re important meetings and he shouldn’t interrupt, but every time he does, she gets this great big grin on her face so he keeps doing it,” Penny was becoming more animated again, and started talking with her hands more. Aunt May stayed quiet, stroking her niece’s hair and letting her say whatever popped into her head. “Dad and Pops have started sending him into meetings to bring her food since Dad gets stuck in those meetings if he goes and Mom rolls her eyes at Pops. At least if Harley goes in, she eats and doesn’t complain too much about her meeting being interrupted, they say.

“Is it weird that I’m attracted to Harley? Maybe that’s why he’s not attracted to me! Since we both called Pepper, Tony, and Rhodey our parents and since he’s actually being adopted by them, maybe that’s why. Maybe he sees me as more of a sibling. That would suck. I don’t think it’s weird, ‘cause we’re not even step-siblings or anything. And no one’s ever referred to us as siblings, so I don’t even think it’s crossed his mind. It only did mine right now,” she gasped and curled into herself a little more. “What if he doesn’t like me because I’m genderfluid? I mean, I know he said that gender doesn’t make a difference in who he’s attracted to, but what if it’s just too weird?” She lapsed into silence finally, so May took the opportunity to respond.

“First of all, it’s not weird that you like Harley. Like you said, you’re in no way related. Secondly, if he says that gender makes no difference in who he’s attracted to, then I think you should believe that. It definitely includes genderfluid people. Thirdly, no I did not know he flirts with you. Which just makes my first two points clearer, if he thought of you as a sibling, he wouldn’t flirt. If he was weirded out by your gender, he wouldn’t flirt. Even if it is just joking, like you said. Finally, I thought you said Pepper was going to slow down on the meetings now that she’s into her final trimester?”

“Apparently, she forgot about that. And Dad and Pops can’t tell her to slow down ‘cause apparently they say it wrong and she thinks they’re patronizing her.”

“Hm. Well, if it does start to get to be too much for her, I’m sure you and Harley could get her to relax a little.”

“You think she’d listen to us?”

“If you were genuinely concerned about her and not just thinking ‘oh you’re pregnant, time to slow down’ then yes, I do think she’d listen. She loves you and it’s sometimes easier to take advice from your children rather than from significant others.” They were both quiet for a minute. “Are you going to go to Prom, sweetheart?”

Penny shrugged a shoulder. “I feel like I should. I only get _one_ Senior Prom. And you and Mom helped me pick out a pretty awesome dress. I really wanna wear that dress. But I really don’t wanna watch Harley and Cindy dance together all night.”

“Does MJ have a date? You two could go as friends?” Penny swiveled a little to look up at May. “What?”

“Why didn’t I think of that?”

“You’ve been distracted, dear. Go ahead, text her while you’re thinking about it.”

**To MJ**

_Friend date to Prom?_

**To Parker**

_Took you long enough. Nerd._

_Meet at May’s at 3 to get ready together._

“She was expecting that,” Penny showed her aunt the phone.

Over the next week, Penny tried to look forward to Prom. She mostly wanted to go. She did have a really awesome dress she wanted to wear, and she definitely wanted to have fun with her friends. But she knew how affectionate Harley was and wasn’t sure she wanted to spend the whole night watching him and Cindy. Still, she’d promised MJ that they’d go together and she figured that as long as they stayed together she’d have fun.

Peter didn’t wake up the Saturday of Prom until after 2 pm. MJ would be there in less than an hour. He took his dress out of its garment bag, but left it hanging in the closet, then went into the kitchen to get breakfast. Aunt May was at the hospital already but she’d left him a note on the counter telling him to relax and have fun. He made himself a stack of pancakes for breakfast and was unsurprised when MJ walked in while he was finishing eating.

“You do realize we’re going to have dinner in a few hours?”

“Yeah, but I just woke up. Besides, high metabolism, remember?” He stuffed the last bite of pancake in his mouth, dumped his dishes in the sink, and followed her back to his bedroom.

MJ hung up her suit in the closet beside Peter’s dress. It was a textured, solid grey suit that was sure to look good on her.* She turned to Peter and said, “We don’t do gender norms in this couple, Parker. Got it?”

“Does this mean you’ll do my makeup?” Her stare and raised eyebrow were the only answer he got.

They spent the next couple of hours getting ready together. Finally, they stood side-by-side in front of the mirror on Peter’s closet door. MJ looked amazing in her textured grey suit and red tie that matched Peter’s dress. Her hair was loose, her usual curls tamed by hair products instead of the scrunchies she usually wore at school. Though she did slip a scrunchie into her pocket in case she decided it got too hot. Peter’s dress had a black halter top with red and black swirled beadwork all over the top. The skirt was two layers, the bottom layer was dark red knit fabric while the top layer was a lighter red chiffon with simple black beaded accents on the hem, and an asymmetrical hemline, stopping at his knees in the front and dropping to his ankles in the back. Both of them wore black pumps, though the heels on MJ’s were taller. Their makeup matched fairly well as well. Dark red lips for both, grey smokey eyes for both with a touch of red in the inner corner for Peter.

Nervous, Peter bit the inside of his lower lip, knowing MJ would kill him if he messed up her work by biting off the lipstick. “This is still a good idea, right? I mean, going to Prom and facing Harley and Cindy?”

“You make it sound like they’re out to hurt you, Parker. You do realize this could have been avoided if you’d told Harley how you feel about him _months_ ago, right?”

“Yeah, that’s a great idea. ‘Hey Harley. I know I’m just your friend, but I’m kinda in love with you.’ How would that make things better? It’d just make everything super awkward _and_ I’d lose a friend.”

MJ just rolled her eyes. “Just focus on me then. I’m your date tonight, so if you focus more on me than on them, you’ll be fine.”

“How is it that you didn’t have a date before I called, anyway?”

“Waited to see what Keener was gonna do.” Peter turned to face her instead of looking at her in the mirror. “What?”

“I love you too, MJ,” he grinned.

“You’d better. It took way to long to do your eyes for you to not love me.”

Ned and his date Betty showed up moments later, followed quickly by Harley and Cindy who were driven over in a limo by Happy. The other four piled into the limo and Happy drove them to dinner. On Pepper’s suggestion, they were eating at an upscale Italian restaurant. Peter did his best to keep his focus on either MJ or Ned and Betty throughout the meal but he couldn’t help it when his attention wandered to Harley.

He was wearing a green and black three-piece suit. The suit jacket, vest, and bow-tie were emerald green, while his shirt, pants, and loafers were black. He looked really good in a suit. In Peter’s opinion he was one of those people that everyone would stop and stare at as he walked by because he looked so good in the suit. The only downside to this fantastic green suit was that Cindy was in a matching emerald green gown. Which, had it not been for the fact that she was dating Harley, Peter would have had no trouble admitting that it looked very good on her. It was an off the shoulder, knee-length, A-line dress in emerald green with black embroidery along the bottom hem and waist.

Surprisingly, though it may have been because they’d only been dating for a week, Harley and Cindy were not super affectionate at the dance. Of course there was affectionate touches and a few kisses between them, and they danced together for every slow song, but Peter had been expecting it to much worse than that. Maybe Cindy wasn’t into as much PDA as Nick had been. Maybe, Peter thought, this relationship would be ever so slightly easier to watch if he didn’t have to see the constant displays of affection. Not that he’d ever blamed Nick for being affectionate. He knew that if he were the one dating Harley it would be hard to keep his hands to himself.

Overall, Peter found that the women in his life had been right. Prom was fun. He’d danced with MJ, joked with his friends, and generally had a good time.

The Friday after Prom was the last day of school for Midtown Seniors. It mainly consisted of the whole Senior class running around saying good-bye to teachers who they’d liked and their younger friends while generally making a nuisance of themselves. As happened every year, the Principal finally came over the PA system and announced that the Seniors were free to go home. There was some sort of regulation that required them to be there on their last day but didn’t require them to stay all day.

Ned, MJ, and Cindy all rode the train to the Tower with Harley and Peter. They’d all agreed that they’d head to the Tower after school to hang out and watch movies. Clint, Sam, Bucky, Steve, and Natasha were set up in the common room playing Risk. Which, really, seemed like a cliché for two assassins, two soldiers, and a man who’d been both a soldier and an assassin to be playing that game, but they enjoyed it and no one wanted to tell them that. Cindy did her best to not stare at the superheroes as they passed them and made their way back to Harley’s bedroom.

Once again, the unrolled the giant bean bag mattress, tossed blankets and pillows over it and got comfortable. As it was MJ’s turn to chose what they were watching for movie night, they queued up the first three _Pirates of the Caribbean_ movies and settled in with popcorn, soda, and junk food. Harley sat in the middle of the bean bag mattress, with Peter sprawled out on his stomach on one side and Cindy sat on the other, leaning against him. MJ sat leaning against the footboard of his bed, legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles, and Ned laid on his side, head propped up on a few pillows, legs hanging off the end of the mattress.

As usually happened during movie nights, Harley and Peter shifted around a few times. It started with Harley casually reaching forward and brushing his hand along Peter’s arm as he reached for the skittles Peter was trying to hoard for himself until by the end of the first movie, they were lying side by side, with their sides pressed together. Cindy scooted back and joined MJ, leaning against Harley’s bed. As was also completely normal for movie night, both Harley and Peter seemed to take advantage of the darker room by sneaking longing looks at each other or reaching over and casually touching each other. Nothing unusual for a close pair of friends, just things like Harley putting a hand on Peter’s arm when a favorite scene came on or Peter leaning more heavily into Harley when he laughed at Commodore Norrington during the drunk fight scene. It just happened often.

MJ kept glancing at Cindy from the corner of her eye and saw as it fully clicked for her. She watched the other girl start to get mad and jumped up, grabbing her arm to get her attention and started to lead her away.

“Where’re you two going?” Ned asked.

“We’ll be back,” MJ pulled Cindy into the kitchen and closed the door. She knew even Peter’s enhanced hearing would have difficulty hearing their conversation over the movie from Harley’s room down the hall. “Figured it out, did you?”

“That Harley’s in love with Peter? Yes. Why’d he ask _me_ out when he so clearly loves him, MJ?”

“Think about for a minute.”

Cindy paced away from her and paced the length of the kitchen a couple times. “We’re so similar, me and Peter. With just enough differences that it’s not obvious right away. He asked me out because I remind him of Peter.”

MJ nodded. “He dated Will because he and Peter have the same haircut and color. If you can call that mop on Pete’s head a haircut. Nick has the same sense of humor and a very similar laugh. There were a couple of others who were polar opposites of Peter, and I expect that was on purpose too. But you? The two of you are so alike, like you said, with just enough differences so it’s not obvious.”

“What do I do about this, MJ? He’s an awesome boyfriend, but now I feel like I’ve been used which sucks. But I get it, they’re best friends and Harley wouldn’t want to jeopardize that. Who are you texting?”

“Natasha Romanov. She’ll be right here.”

“What? Why?”

“Peter thinks of her as an aunt. Besides, she knows where Pepper is.”

“Yes, she does,” Pepper opened the door, Nat right behind her. “Is everything alright, girls?”

“It didn’t take 3 weeks,” MJ told Nat.

“What?” Cindy asked.

“She said it would take you a maximum of 3 weeks to figure out how similar you and Peter are,” Nat answered.

“To be fair, I figured out Harley’s in love with Peter first. Peter loves him too, doesn’t he? Of course he does, what am I saying? I’ve seen him glare at me before you catch him, MJ. I just wrote it off as me being the girlfriend who cuts down on ‘best friend’ time,” Cindy sighed and dropped onto one of the stools at the kitchen island. “Okay, so obviously I have to break up with Harley. But the question now is – how do I do it in such a way as to get him and Peter together? ‘Cause honestly, now that I know, they’d be adorable together.”

“You don’t sound upset about this,” Pepper sat beside her.

“A very little bit. We’ve only been together for like 2 weeks and like I told MJ before you got here, I get not wanting to jeopardize a friendship. Still, there’s that little bit of me that’s upset that he used me. But it’s little and easy to ignore. Am I rambling?”

“Starting to,” Pepper smiled.

“Listen, Peter and Harley are geniuses, and usually very observant. Unless, apparently, it’s about their personal lives. There’s really only one way to do this.” MJ leaned against the counter and explained her plan.

“mаленький паучок?” Natasha stepped into Harley’s room.

“Yeah, тетушка?”

“Can you come with me for a second? I need your help.”

“Of course,” Peter jumped up from his spot in Harley’s floor and followed Natasha up the hall to the kitchen. MJ straightened up from the counter and Pepper stood from her stool when he walked in. Cindy stayed where she was as the other two left. “тетушка?”

“Sit, Cindy needs to talk to you,” she pushed him toward Pepper’s vacated stool and left, closing the door behind her.

“I need you to promise to hear me out, without getting upset or leaving. And really listen to me, Peter, it’s important.”

“Okay, I promise,” he slowly lowered himself onto the stool, nervous about where this conversation could possibly be heading. She’d been talking to 3 of the most important women in his life – somehow he didn’t think this was going to go well.

“I’m going to break up with Harley as soon as we’re done with this conversation,” she held up a hand to forestall the protest Peter opened his mouth to make. “No, you promised to listen. At the beginning of our very short relationship, I noticed the way you would look at me before MJ stopped you. I thought it was just because I was taking up some of your best friend’s time. But now that I’ve looked back on it, I’ve seen the way you look at Harley when he’s not looking too. More than that, I saw the way you two interacted during the movie just a few minutes ago. MJ saw me figure it out and pulled me out here. So, I’m going to break up with Harley because the two of you are in love with each other.”

“No, I…. He’s…. Idon’tknowwhatyou’retalkingabout.” Cindy smiled and waited. Pepper had told her he’d try to deny it and to let him get it out. “Listen, Harley is one of my very best friends. I love him like a best friend does. And he feels the same way. I mean, obviously, otherwise he wouldn’t have dated other people if he loves me like you say. And I wouldn’t be totally okay with it if I love him like you think.”

Cindy gave him a look that clearly said she didn’t believe him and that him lying about it was annoying her. “Peter, first of all, I just got done talking to your best female friend, your mom, and your aunt. Which are interesting relationships to have, those last two. Maybe one day you’ll tell me about them. My point is, they all know exactly how you feel about Harley and this whole thing was MJ’s plan, with Mrs. Potts’ and Miss Romanov’s slight improvements,” she paused as he looked down. “I get it, Peter. I really do understand why you wouldn’t want to say anything to him. No one likes the idea of being rejected. And if your best friend rejected you? That’s so much worse.

“Which brings me to my second point, I know he’s in love with you too. And not just from the way you two always interact with each other. That could just be affectionate best friends, I guess. But I know it because of Will, because of Nick, and now because of me.” He’d looked up at her sharply, with a glare, when she said Nick’s name. “MJ pointed it out. Will’s hair is just like yours. Or, was, at the beginning of the year. Nick’s got the same sense of humor and laugh as you. And me? Peter, you and I are very much alike. We’ve been the top two in our class since Freshman year. We like the same things to do, the same foods to eat, we have very similar personalities, and Mrs. Potts says I ramble like you do. Miss Romanov pointed out that we even have similar body types. I have to admit, it’s a little weird to realize just how similar we are, actually. It’s more weird to think that the only reason Harley’s remotely attracted to me is that I remind him of you.

“Anyway, I know Harley’s in love with you because he’s with me because I remind him of you. So, Miss Romanov is going to take you to your room, where you’re supposed to wait for Harley. I’m going to go break up with him in the hallway, right where you’ll be able to hear the whole thing so you’ll know when I leave.”

“You…. You don’t have to leave. We could keep watching movies.”

“Thanks, Peter. I may just take you up on that offer, but not today,” she smiled, stood up, and started to walk past him to the doorway.

“I…Cindy I don’t think I can do this,” Peter muttered.

She stopped and turned to look at him. “You have to, or what I’m about to do will hurt Harley.” She barely reached the door and Peter was right there behind her.

He followed Nat, MJ, and Cindy back down the hall. MJ waited until he and Nat were closed up in his room before opening the door to Harley’s. Peter sat on the edge of his bed, his attention completely focused on the conversation in the hallway when he heard Cindy call Harley out.

“Is everything ok, Cindy?”

“Depends on your definition of ‘ok’, but in the long-term? Yeah. I’ve noticed some things, Harley. Some things about you. You’re a great guy, Harley, and a really great boyfriend but we have to break up.”

“What? Why?”

Peter heard Cindy sigh and heard Harley take a step back. Clearly, she’d tried to touch him. “Because I’m not Peter.” Her voice had gotten softer, almost like she was afraid of scaring him off.

“I don’t…. What does that mean?”

“It means, I know you’re in love with your best friend.”

“I’m… No… I…. Why would you…?”

“You are. And that’s okay, that’s good. Peter’s a great person. But I can’t be a shield for you, Harley. I won’t be the excuse that you’re not in love with him because you’re dating me. That’s not fair to me. It’s not fair to you. And it’s not fair to Peter.” They were quiet for a moment. “You really are great, Harley. And for what it’s worth, I think you two would be cute together,” she paused and Peter wondered what she was doing, but mostly he was gripping the edge of his bed so he didn’t spring off it and try to protect Harley from yet another heartbreak. He tried to remind himself that Nat, Pepper, and MJ all thought this was a good idea and they were three of the smartest women in the world as far as he was concerned. “Goodbye, Harley.”

Peter listened as Cindy quickly made her way to the elevators. As soon as those doors shut, he was on his feet, pulling open his bedroom door. Harley was slumped against the wall, head bowed. His head snapped up when he heard Peter’s door open. Nat slipped out, unnoticed by them both.

“Come here, Harls,” Peter held out his hands and Harley stepped toward him. Peter backed up, pulling Harley by his hands into his room and closed the door again. “I heard the whole thing.” The women in his life had not told him how he was supposed to go about confessing his feelings, so he was winging it and hoping for the best.

“You…heard?”

“Mmhm.” Harley let go of his hands and backed away, wrapping his arms around himself. “Harls, what’s wrong?”

“You…. I…. It’s not true what she said. About me being in love with you. I mean, you’re my best friend so I love you like that. But not… not what she meant.” Harley was looking anywhere but at Peter’s face, rubbing the back of his neck or fidgeting with his hands.

And Peter had the same moment of clarity that Cindy had. He’d seen Harley like this before. They’d been trying to convince Tony that it wasn’t their fault there’d been an explosion in the lab even though they’d deliberately mixed chemicals wrong to get that explosion.

“You just lied to me,” Peter’s eyes were wide with awe as he stared at his best friend.

“What?” Harley snapped, finally looking at him.

“You just lied to me. You have tells, Keener. You can’t look at people when you’re lying to them. You rub the back of your neck and, if the lie’s big enough, you fidget with your hands,” Peter took slow steps toward Harley. “You love me.”

“I…. No.”

“I get why Cindy gave me that look while I was denying it. It’s annoying to watch someone lie to you when they’re really bad at it.”

“I don’t know what you…. Denying it?”

He nodded. “She sat me down in the kitchen and told me she was going to break up with you. She told me you’re in love with me and that she knows I’m in love with you.” Peter was standing very close to Harley now, practically chest to chest. Close enough that he had to tip his head back to look up at Harley.

“Pete?” He whispered, eyes wide as he stared down at him.

“Hm?”

“What’s going on right now?”

Peter reached up and pushed a curl behind Harley’s ear. “I don’t know. But I’d like to kiss you now.” When he nodded, Peter smiled. Using the hand that was already stretched out, he cupped his cheek, leaned up and gently kissed him. It was just the lightest pressure, but it gave them both shivers. They pulled apart for just a second, just long enough to realize they didn’t want to be apart.

Harley grabbed Peter’s hips, pulling them flush against each other, tilted his head slightly, and slotted their mouths together perfectly. All of Peter’s other enhanced senses zeroed in on this moment as he closed his eyes. The feel of Harley’s soft hair tangled between his fingers as he wrapped his arms around his neck, of his calloused hands holding tightly to his hips. The feeling of soft lips moving against his own. The sound of two heartbeats picking up speed, the feeling as if a thousand butterflies had been released in his belly. The smell of motor oil that clung to Harley all the time and the apple-scented shampoo he used. The taste of the popcorn they’d been eating when he ran his tongue over his bottom lip. The tight feeling in his chest as if he couldn’t be bothered to breathe while he was kissing Harley. The taste of salt from Harley’s tears.

Harley’s tears? Peter pulled back a little and saw that the taller boy was indeed crying. Harley leaned forward and rested his forehead on Peter’s. “What’s wrong?”

“We’re so damn stupid,” he murmured. “We coulda been doing this for months and instead we’re so stupid it took other people pointing out our own feelings to us.”

Peter chuckled. “We are kinda oblivious, huh?” He pulled away slightly, forcing Harley to lift his head. He leaned up and kissed his cheeks, just under his eyes. “No more crying. It makes me sad when you cry and now is not a time for being sad.”

“Alright, darlin’. No more crying over us being oblivious.” Harley stood up straight and shook his head a little.

“Do ya think MJ and Ned will notice if we don’t come back for a while?”

“Ned? Not yet. MJ? Absolutely. Besides, we have the whole night after they leave.” Peter blushed, but followed as Harley led them back to his room. “Where’d they go? They were here when I left.” The movie was paused and there was no one in the bedroom.

Confused, they headed toward the kitchen. Maybe they’d wanted more substantial food than popcorn and Twizzlers? They came out of the hallway and were greeted by cheering, whistling, and clapping. MJ, Ned, Nat, Pepper, Rhodey, Tony, Steve, Bucky, Sam, and Clint were all in the common room, standing around as if they’d been waiting for them.

“Seriously?” Harley demanded. Peter blushed again and buried his face against Harley’s shoulder.

“Listen, kid. The rest of us have had to deal with the individual pining from the two of you. We’re thrilled we won’t have to anymore,” Rhodey smiled at them.

“I called May. Happy’s picking her up and we’re having a celebratory dinner,” Tony announced. Peter groaned and wrapped his arms around Harley. Families are embarrassing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Yes, the one Zendaya and Michael B. Jordan both wore. I love that suit.
> 
> So, I had originally intended to show more of Harley and Peter dating in this chapter but, as usual, things got a little carried away for me. Cindy was only supposed to be there for the first half of the chapter, not the whole thing. And the scene with Aunt May wasn't originally planned until I realized she hadn't been in the story at all, and that's tragic because I love Aunt May. Oh well, I mostly like the way it turned out. There is a oneshot planned of the two of them being adorably and sickeningly sweet together. There's a total of like 5 oneshots planned to tie into this story now. Mostly they're glimpses of the Iron Family's lives that don't directly tie into this plot. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this story and I hope you'll enjoy the coming oneshots as well.


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